The fall of Black Eagle
by A.Lamb
Summary: Somewhere deep in the heart of the corrupted galaxy, there lies dormant a race with untold technology, technology that kept them hidden from the eyes of the demons... But what happens when they are found, will they surrender to chaos like so many have, or will they fight it? Read & review.


A/N:

Like I said, I'm not good with summaries but if it means it'll make your life easier with the fic, then here it is.

During the war against chaos, many worlds sided with the Imperium, whilst others simply sided with the emperor, they would still support the Imperium but they wouldn't go to war (Depends on the type of war, if it's a simple campaign then no, if it's an Armageddon campaign then yes.) some worlds denied both altogether, (Chaos.) they chose the path of destruction. One world decided to not take any sides at all, (Praetorians, as I decided to call them.) they first accepted the emperor as their god king (Or whatever name you want to use, there all the same meaning.) but refused to join with the imperial guard, whilst the imperial guard where out fighting campaigns against the emperor's enemy's, the Praetorians would advance their technology for one goal. (Seclusion.) When they reached a high enough age of tech, (They reached the age during the 39th millennium.) they were capable of building a device which would allow them to remain hidden from anyone and everyone, when the imperial guard came back to the praetorian world for their routine collection of resources, ( I decided to simply call the world Praetoria, but I'm open for any ideas, if you don't like the name.) they discovered it was classed as a dead world and the praetorian race was wiped out due to some atomic testing gone wrong. (It was all part of their secret stealth device they created.) The imperium abandoned the world and the Praetorians carried on with their lives in peace, but this peace didn't last long.

(There's a smaller, simpler explanation in the first chapter, but I really recommend reading the authors note before going anywhere further.)

Key:

(If you're new to all of this then I recommend reading this to avoid confusion.)

"Hello." = Speech

'Goodbye.' = Thought

Frak = (English translation… I'll let you guess)

Kellkan = Capitol City of Praetoria

Bark Pistol = Standard Military Issue Praetorian Pistol

Bolt Carbine = Standard Military Issue Praetorian Rifle

Krak Grenade = Standard Military Issue Frag Grenade

Praetorian weapons and vehicles look the same as the British used during the First World War, so if you want to know more about the weapons and vehicles I recommend some research on them during that time period. (I know what you're thinking, if they have such high grade of technology, why do they use such old equipment, well, the reason why is because they focused too much on stealth rather than their military, and they were happy with the way there lives were currently at.)

To be born free is an accident. To live free is a privilege. To die free is a responsibility.

-Brig. General James Sehorn- 

Chapter 1: Golden Freedom's and Bloody Fates

Many have fought and died for so many foolish claims, religion and honour, land and wealth… and others simply fight for hate and anger. All of these have the same conclusion… death, for these are paths that would lead any and every nation to a place of pure chaos, misery and destruction, no matter how hard you try none can withstand the temptations of power, it comes with the shadows of darkness and consumes your very soul. Planet by planet, nation by nation, all have been consumed by chaos, even if they may not show it and even if they may say and show they fight the good fight, their hearts are black and their minds are corrupt, with each death bought by another man the darkness grows, never ceasing it's consumption of humanity, always feasting on those wretched souls that would feast on themselves. As the shadow grows inside every man, so do the paths in which this very man can choose to end his miserable life, he can take others with him in his death… or he can fight and attempt to strike back at the chaos… but such a path has not yet been witnessed and therefore cannot be certain. Across the galaxy there have been rumours of a nation who found the correct path in order to block out the darkness… isolation, the praetorians as this nation comes by, have struggled hard to keep the darkness at bay, and have been successful… but how long can they last, how long can they keep their freedom, how long before they too are consumed… only time will tell us, for in this galaxy, there is no hope, there is no freedom, there is only war.

The sounds of life fill the air, birds sing throughout the morning breeze, the wind soars through the trees causing them to stir and their branches to groan under the pressure, everything seems calm and tranquil as yet another day sets in Praetoria. The sounds of the countryside immediately vanish under the noise of a bugler blowing in a near camp, the area suddenly erupts with life, men in smartly dressed uniforms burst out of their barracks and begin their day, some make their way towards the great hall, while others head towards the mess area for a much needed breakfast… whilst a lone soldier quickly paces towards a large building, most probably the command house.

The soldier's footsteps could be heard throughout the entire building as he continues to storm towards his destination, swerving and ducking past any that get in his way, he holds a form of papers in his left hand whilst the other is tucked behind his back in a courteous fashion. He wears a very spiffing uniform which is coloured red whilst his trousers a dark blue, his boots shine as bright as the emperor himself, his gloves are pure white and his helmet is a pale skin like colour with a slight curved point at the top.

After a few gruelling hours of trying to find the room, he so wishes to find, the general's private quarters finally comes in to few. With a slight grin on his face, the man knocks on the door and waits for a reply… yet receives none.

'Just as I thought.' he thinks to himself whilst fumbling with the locks, his grin growing.

The doors swing open to reveal a very large room, the area is dark what with the windows closed and curtains covering them but it is still easy to identify the area, a medium sized fireplace sits at the far end of where the bed is facing whilst a desk is seen on the right of the room, next to the doors, a few chairs are placed across the fireplace and the bed is placed in the top middle of the room. The occupant of the bed is slumbering and not a sound could be heard… apart from the nerve cracking snoring he was emitting.

'Time to start the day with a little fun, don't you think brother' He silently tip toes towards the small desk on the right side of the bed, once satisfied the general was still asleep, he reached out for the alarm clock and set it to go off.

{BBRRNNNGG}

"AHHHHHH, IT'S THE ALARM, WERE UNDER ATTACK!" The general screamed aloud as he struggled to remove the bed sheets, after finally calming himself down and taking in his surroundings, his eyes stopped at the soldier, who was on the floor desperately attempting to keep his sides from splitting.

"Hah hah, ah hah hah, well now, I think someone seems a bit hyperactive this morning… I'm sorry brother, but you just looked so vulnerable like that." He finally managed to regain himself, only to burst out laughing at the sight of the general's frazzled look.

"Knock it off, and pull yourself together already… I was having a most fascinating nightmare by the way, I dreamt we were invaded and hunted down by some unknown evil, after fighting for so long we gave up, and I was tasked to destroy our entire world, after that we were forced to wear suits for the rest of our life's because we were cursed by the lord of the ancestors himself, Andro." he said as he dressed into his military uniform, which was the same material and colour style as the soldier standing before him, only this one had a fur sash across his chest and a pearl white cape flowing down his back.

"That's strange, I had the same dream." he said "only I was with you when you made the decision." the general sat by the fireplace and began staring into space, he contemplated on his recent nightmare and his brother's words.

"What do you think it means?" he asked as he guided the soldier to sit with him

"I do not know brother, it must be some childish dream, nothing to worry about." he nervously laughed as he attempted to rid his brother's mind of such dreams.

"I hope your right" he said almost distantly "are those the documents I requested?" he asked as he pointed towards the files the soldier still kept within his grasp.

"Hmm? Oh, right, yes, your documents came in this morning sir; I do hope its good news this time."

"The same here, I can't deal with any more bad news…" the generals colourful face suddenly turned pale as his eyes darted left to right in shock and horror "but alas, there is no doubt I will be getting any good today, the dark eldar are advancing towards the planet Ryza." he said.

"The planet Ryza? That is so far away from where we are to even care, we have nothing to worry about and anyway no one can find us thanks to our superb stealth technology." But as the soldier's eyes stared into the fire, he silently questioned his own confidence.

The general's eyes turned cold as stone as he glared at his brother before him. "I'm so glad you have confidence in our stealth abilities." he replied sarcastically. "Need I remind you that only direct contact can reveal ourselves to the eyes of darkness, it is not the dark eldar we should be worried about, it's the imperium we must be wary of." he said.

"The imperium? Why should we be worried about them?" he stopped himself before he could go any further and thought deeply as to why the general would mention the imperial guard. "Of course! The Cadians are stationed near our planet, and when they hear of such a threat to their assets they will send reinforcements… reinforcements that will no doubt pass here during their travel through the warp." his face was of pure horror, his hands trembled and his eyes widened. "When they find us they will force us into their destructive alliance, they will lead us down the path to ruin!" he jumped out of his chair and his hands began the usual fight with each other.

"Calm down!" the general followed suit and leapt out of his own chair, he sternly looked upon the helpless soldier. "This is not how we praetorians act in these situations." The soldier finally managed to calm himself, thanks to the general's wise words.

"But what do we do? We can't just refuse or they will butcher us all, they may be lost in the darkness but that does not mean it has made them weak in their military strength."

The general got up from his seat and handed the papers back to the soldier "Walk with me brother while I report this to central command and the hierarchy." they both walked out of the room and headed towards the war room, the general left the soldier with no answer.

"Oh! I almost forgot, your wife called sir, mentioned something about promising having dinner last night." the look on the general's face went right back to his previous horror filled, pale looking expression.

'OH FRAK! I may be a tough soldier, but that woman scares the hell out of me.'

The war room was the main area of operations for the praetorian guard, it was a large room with old fashioned military computers and other such equipment on either side of the walls, a large holo-map was placed in the centre of the room and a large screen was displayed showing movement of imperial ships across praetorian borders.

"What's the situation?" The general asked as he burst through the doors, his companion quickly in tow but oddly keeping his distance.

A guardsman quickly walked up to him and after giving a sharp salute, he explained what was going on with the imperial advancement. "There appears to be a large fleet massing near the planet Verghaz, they contain 50 dreadnoughts, 200 warships, 400 cruisers, 8,000 interceptors and 16,000 fighters." his words were calm yet the general noticed some slight worry in his voice.

"Have you reported this to the hierarchy?" the soldier simply nodded in return and awaited the general's orders. "Well… What did they say?" he demanded.

"Uh… they said they may have no choice but to accept our fate and surrender when asked to." the generals face flushed with anger as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"ARE THEY INSANE!" he finally burst out, unable to control himself. "They would rather have us surrender when we have worked so hard to get this far." The entire room had suddenly been silenced and everyone appeared to shrink as the general continued.

"We all saw what the imperium was like during the crusade, when they offered an alliance, we made the correct decision to disagree; now they will discover our treachery and will destroy us all… only if we don't act first." He spoke menacingly, for a moment, the occupants had looked upon the general in worry, and they thought he could be following the path to ruin.

"Sir, I think I speak on behalf of all the men in this room, what you are thinking of sounds as if you are planning on war with the imperium."

"I would never think of such a thing! I am simply suggesting we gather strength and play the defensive strategy, it is after all our best tactic in combat." At first, the general's face gleamed with pride and victory over the argument, for his real plans was safe.

"And if the dark eldar manages to gain the upper hand?" He questioned the general, but after seeing the look on his face, he soon regrets his words.

"If they gain the upper hand then I shall have no choice but to use a more… dangerous approach, but I pray they are wiped out by the dark eldar before they reach here."

The soldier's eyes burst wide, his jaw dropped as he realized what the general meant by a more dangerous approach. "I also pray to the ancestors the dark eldar do not notice us."

When the hierarchy realized that eventually someone was to discover them, they either realized that there would be no negotiations or that whoever discovers them would enslave them or destroy them, after a long and gruelling debate, they finally accepted that they would rather watch their world burn rather than see it be consumed by chaos. 90,000 nuclear missiles were created, in case they were ever outnumbered the entire world will be engulfed in flames. Only two people have access to both the key and the code, general Henry Smith and Officer William Brown. The fate of Praetoria rests in the hands of these men, both have endured tests of time, both have sacrificed for the safety of the people… yet there is one more trial they must pass, one that will change their life's… forever.

4 weeks later…

Officer Brown entered the war room where general Smith and his associates were, they were huddled around the holo-map in which the officer took great interest in, it displayed a battle which appeared to be set in some type of forgeworld, the area was covered in rubble and maufactorium buildings were spread out along the field, small red dots appeared above the ground level, they were unmistakably identified as aircraft, whilst the larger dots were classed as different armoured battalions and companies, the medium sized dots were classed as infantry regiments, and from the view of the map… there appears to be more enemies than there are of friendly's.

"What's the situation on the dark eldar?" He politely asked the general as he leaned in closer to get a better look. The general looked upon him with a face of downright fear.

"I'll be honest with you brother, It's not looking good. The Cadians are being wiped out as time passes, the harder they fight for ground the more they lose it. The dark eldar are merciless in their attack, hacking and maiming along their path… and no one can stop them, eventually when they are finished picking off the scraps on Ryza, they will hunt in this section next, we have already spotted recon ships in the system!"

Upon hearing this, the officer looked as if he was going to keel over; there was already someone behind him, ready to catch him in case he truly did fall.

"You're the superior general sir, what are your orders?" The general gave this some thought, and after thinking of a tactical plan, he answered the awaiting Officer.

"We shall concentrate on setting up strong defences, we must sacrifice our stealth for defence, have the guards escort all civilians to the bunkers immediately, all dismissed!" The Officers and staff evacuated the building to carry out the general's order's, Officer Brown stood at the door, awaiting for the general's common last words.

"If this invasion truly is about to happen, then may the ancestor of war grant us strength."

Chapter 2: A Dark Path to a Bright Future 

True, the Cadians did retreat, and true the dark eldar moved towards Praetoria like a snake stalking it's next victim, but unfortunately the ancestor of war refused to show any signs of mercy, and instead relished in the bloodshed as did the ancestor of death, but the others silently wept for their lost children, watching helplessly as they were cut down without any hope of fighting back. Pockets of resistance are strong in parts of the mother world, but alas, as time goes by the will to fight fades like dust in the wind. In the trenches of an unknown location, in the middle of a desperate struggle for survival, our two heroes will soon discover that to become a hero of the people… one must travel on the path of darkness.

"INCOMING!" A soldier screams out from inside his observation post.

"ARRGGHH" Another successful throw of a grenade for the enemy… and another letter goes to the lover of the fallen soldier; the scene is all quite horrifying for anybody to set eyes upon. Pieces of flesh and pools of blood scatter the trenches, parts of soldiers were littered everywhere, legs and arms were floating in the murky pools of mud, dismembered heads were left on the floor, some are part of a sick joke in which the dark eldar play on their victims, lobbing their heads as if grenades only to cackle with amusement upon seeing the men's reactions. Throughout all the death and horror, the praetorian guard stand strong and vigilant, for they shall die knowing they held the line and they shall die in the name of duty and freedom. Alas, in this war, they truly die for nothing.

"Status report Pvt. Scotts!" General Smith poked his head out of the mobile war room (MWR) to inspect the battle; his nose was ghastly introduced to the foul odours of rotting flesh that spreads throughout the field of battle.

"It's Pvt. Hudgeson sir…"

"What about him?" He demanded as he covered his face with a cloth, unable to bear the stench any longer.

"He's everywhere." The general looked across the trench and much to his revulsion, he was met with a ghastly view of lumps of flesh and body parts scattered all over the place… which body part belongs to Hudgeson, no one knows.

The general mustered only one word "Frak…" before retreating back inside.

"Something wrong sir?" The ghostly look on the Gen. face said everything, it was more than enough for Off. Brown to know that they were being slaughtered out there.

"Report on the frontlines?" the general demanded, ignoring the Officer's question.

"The dark eldar are advancing towards the city of Kellkan, reports from the guards stationed there speak of unidentified vehicles patrolling the streets. Order's sir?"

"Kellkan? That's close to the missile launch station, if they discover that bunker then were all screwed, we must reach that bunker before they do!" At first, the officers agreed with the general's idea, but Officer Brown remembered his duty, unlike the others.

"But sir, we have civilians still making their way towards the shelter's, if we focus our troops on the bunker then civilian casualties will be immense." Off. Brown tried to persuade the general to see reason, he was hoping his friendship remained with the general during a time such as this… but war can so easily change a man's heart.

"I have my orders from not only the governor, but the entire damn hierarchy, they ordered me to ensure no hostiles breached the control bunker, and if following that order means sacrificing a few civilians… then so be it!"

Off. Brown simply looked upon him as if he was the enemy himself, whatever this... thing is that stood before the petrified Officer, he is no man, his face looked dark and his expression was that of a murderer, the Officer could only obey his orders, no matter what they are.

"Yes sir! By your orders, it will be done." As he gathered his equipment and rifle, he glared menacingly at the general as he stepped out of the room; either the general did not notice him or simply ignored him. In the hearts of both men, dark thoughts grew deep.

"Is there a problem Officer Brown?" The general questioned harshly, his voice filled with pure venom for the man before him.

"No sir, no problem at all." Off. Brown replied with more venom than a cobra would carry in its poisonous fangs, the tension between the two men was truly stretching over the limit of their understanding of each other.

"Now you listen to me Brown, I don't want this, hell I don't even like this… but I have no damn choice! I was born to lead these people, not burn them alive with our own fraking weapons!" His voice was gaining sound as he inched ever so closer. "I don't give a frak about you, the Governor or even the whole fraking hierarchy, all I care about is making sure our people survive… even if that means murdering the mother world."

"We're arriving at the outskirts of Kellkan soon sir, ETA: 10 minutes." The ride was not exactly first class. Four transports containing the most strongest and loyal soldiers of Praetoria, and they still jump at the sound of the constant shelling from the enemy, but who could blame them, they were facing a xeno race that were not only strong and vicious than the Orks but were more advanced than the imperial guard.

"Do we even know who the hell these aliens are? Fraking hell, we don't even stand a chance against these bastards if we don't know their strengths and weaknesses." Inside the truck, the men were conversing with each other, it is supposed to boost morale to talk with someone about your problems, but the subject of this conversation is not helping.

"Sounds like a good point, we should have spent more time on researching our enemies instead of hiding from them and also now that I'm getting to the subject, we-"

"LOOK OUT!" Off. Brown was that focused on his conversation; he almost smashed in to the wreckage of a burnt tank, thankfully everyone was unharmed.

"Are you trying to get us all killed? Keep your eyes on the bloody road Officer." The General shouted at the officer.

"Sorry sir, just trying to lighten up the mood." When the officer's eyes met the general he was confused at his expression, he looked as though he was going to throw up. "Sir?"

"Take a look out there and tell me if I'm doing the right thing by destroying this world." Outside, the road was littered with bodies. Men, woman and even children were scattered across the area. Some burnt and melted from plasma weapons, others sliced in half and left where they fell… the rest were blown up into small chunks of meat.

"Fraking hell." The officer could only mumble. "What happened here?" He questioned the general, when in truth, he already knew the answer.

"The dark eldar breached the Kellkan defences three hours ago, when the people heard of this, they panicked and fled, we tried our best to secure them but they didn't want any part of us. When they tried to escape, the enemy ambushed them and butchered everyone."

"Your right… maybe the only choice to save everyone, is by killing them. I don't like it but if it means no one has to suffer a death such as that, than by all means, do whatever you want." Brown simply gave up in this war, it was obvious there wasn't any signs it was going to get better and he was getting too old for life on the frontlines.

"It sounds as if you have given up hope Officer Brown" Said the general. "Am I correct?"

"That depends sir… have you given hope?" The rest of the journey was travelled in an eerie silence, not one man would dare interrupt as they came closer to the city's outer gates

.

"We have arrived at our destination sir… the gates of hell." To the general, it was probably just a joke, but when he looked at what was left of the city, he realized that he was not joking about the look of the area.

The view of the city's gates was capable of making even the strongest man run in fear. Blood was splattered all over the walls with the remains of the defender's lying in heaps along the top, the fires burn wild as the sun was blocked by the pitch black smoke.

"Alright, we're in enemy territory now, so no loud noises, keep each other covered, check your surroundings… and whatever happens, don't attempt to surrender.

"Off. Brown, you are in charge of Team one, Off. Henson will be in charge of Team two and I will personally lead team three. Your orders are to secure the area around the Missile control bunker, once done, you will have to hold position and keep the enemy away while me and Off. Brown secures the inside. Any questions?"

Off. Henson was the only one to speak. "Just tell us where the enemy is sir; we'll burn the frakers for what they did today." The rest of the squad roared in exhilaration as they parted and made their way to their objectives, unaware of the general's deceitful words.

"I don't understand why we have to split up and secure the bunker piece by bloody piece, wouldn't it be easier to just charge the enemy with our full force, instead of wasting our lives on some fraking street corner five miles away from the primary objective." One of the soldiers from Team two spoke up after a few hours of patrolling the streets in silence.

"Shut up Private! I suggest you keep your damn mouth shut!" The Officer Blurted out in anger. 'Damn recruit can't shut up… but he does have a point, the General is acting weird today... almost like he's hiding something'

"I'm just saying. The General seems very odd today and I'm thinking-"

"Enough!" He scolded. "Do you realize you could have given away our position to the enemy, they could-" A group of eldar burst out from one of the buildings and sprayed fire upon the helpless guards. "TAKE COVER!"

"FRAK! Where they hell are they coming from?" He said in desperation. "Corporal, get over here, NOW!" He screamed as he fired a few shots from his bolt carbine.

"Moving now sir." He replied just before an eldar threw a plasma grenade. "COVER!" He knew it was too late for the corporal as blood sprayed across his face, completely covering it, what was left of the corporal was now scattered across the battlefield.

"SOMEONE GET ME THE GENERAL!"

Elsewhere, outside the missile control bunker. {BBRRNNGG} "Hold on sir, I'm receiving a call from Officer Henson."

"WHERE'S ARE FRAKING FIRE SUPPORT?" {STATIC} "Were getting blown to hell here, help us for Sara's sake, we need someone, anyone, JUST DO SOMETHING!"

"Sounds like they need help sir, should we send them reinforcements?" He asked.

"Give me the radio, I'll handle this myself" He grabbed the radio forcefully

"This is General Smith, state your request." {STATIC} "MY FRAKING REQUEST IS TO SEND SOME FRAKING REINFORCMENTS DOWN HERE NOW… sir."

"I'm sorry Officer, but we can't do that." He said distantly.

"Because I need you to distract the enemy while I initiate the purge-" "YOU FRAKING TRAITOR, YOUR JUST GOING TO SACRIFICE US TO MURDER THE MOTHERWORLD? DAMN YOU SMITH, DAMN YOU TO-" {CLICK}

"Goodbye Officer Henson." He spoke darkly before handing the radio back to Off. Brown. He glanced at the general with a look of deep anger before following him.

"Have you received word from you team Officer Brown?" The general spoke as they travelled towards the control room. "No sir, I believe the enemy has wiped them out already, we should be safe… for now." He spoke the last words silently to himself.

The rest of the walk was done in silence, the dark eldar had attempted to breach the bunker but with little to no success. Most of the attackers moved on to a more easy prey, while the rest remained, believing that someone would come to the bunker in hope of finding shelter… easy prey for them, but not if that prey was two of the most deadliest soldiers know in Praetoria.

A/N:

Well… that was fun, all that blood and gore kind of seems a bit extreme, but I've got bad news for you folks, it gets worse (Not in this fic, I have one coming up later which see's the future of the praetorians) If you like the real sense of war, then by all means keep reading, if you don't, then look elsewhere because this gets really violent, but that's war, right? Anyway with that little warning all settled, I'll let you think about what you want to put as a review (I really would like it if you do review because it lets me know what you want in something like this, I don't care how bad they sound, as long as it's useful you can say whatever you want.) I'm thinking of doing a few one-shots, depends on the reviews.


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